A Bradford chef died almost immediately when his neck bone was cleaved by a single blow from behind, a murder trial jury heard yesterday.

Amjad Hussain suffered bleeding from “a huge, gaping, incised wound,” Home Office pathologist, Dr Brian Rodgers, told Bradford Crown Court.

He said death would have been “almost instantaneous.”

“From the point of view of the family, I don’t think Mr Hussain knew very much about this,” Dr Rodgers told the court. Mr Hussain, 32, was killed in the living room at his home in Rylstone Gardens, Undercliffe, Bradford, on January 12.

The jury has heard that his home was set on fire and the gas cooker turned on in an attempt to destroy the evidence.

Mohammed Naeem, 33, of Westfield Terrace, Undercliffe, denies murder.

He is accused of almost beheading Mr Hussain with a meat cleaver while visiting his home at lunchtime.

The Crown says Mr Hussain wanted back £1,000 he had loaned to Naeem and he was planning to ask Naeem’s wife and father-in-law for help in obtaining repayment.

Mr Hussain, who was married to a teacher and is the father of a nine-year-old son, had been asleep at home after working a late shift at the Four Seasons takeaway in Burley-in-Wharfedale.

His body was recovered by firefighters after neighbours smelt burning.

Dr Rodgers said the wound to Mr Hussain’s neck was 5in deep and 11 or 12in long. His killer had chopped into him, cleaving the bone.

Dr Rodgers said he did not believe Mr Hussain struggled with his assailant. There were no defensive injuries to his hands. He said the weapon used to kill him was probably an ornamental sword or machete or meat cleaver.

“This is a very unusual case. I have not seen a case like this before in 12 years of forensic practice,” Dr Rodgers said.

It needed considerable force to cleave bone and the murder weapon was “robust and very sharp”.

Shown a large, heavy, meat cleaver found in Otley Road, Bradford, after the killing, Dr Rodgers said it was “highly likely” to have inflicted the injuries on Mr Hussain.

The trial continues.